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Malignant tumours and psoriasis: climatotherapy at theDead Sea
Author(s) -
Frentz G.,
Olsen J.H.,
Avrach W.W.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.1999.03161.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psoriasis , skin cancer , basal cell carcinoma , dermatology , incidence (geometry) , dead sea , population , cancer registry , basal cell , cancer , environmental health , oceanography , physics , optics , geology
In this retrospective, nation‐wide cohort study, the risk of cancer was assessed for 1738 Danish patients with psoriasis subjected to climatotherapy at the Dead Sea during 1972–93, by linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry. The overall risk of cancer in patients treated at the Dead Sea (standardized incidence ratio, SIR = 1·59) was higher than that expected in the general population, owing to an excess risk of non‐melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) [SIR = 4·2 for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 10·7 for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)]. In addition, the distribution of NMSC among body sites, age groups and sexes was unusual in those treated at the Dead Sea, favouring NMSC in young individuals and at multiple sites (SIR = 10·7 for BCC and 57·2 for SCC), multiple BCCs being particularly common among young women. Thus, people subjected to climatotherapy at the Dead Sea for psoriasis constitute a high‐risk group for NMSC, SCC in particular, but not for malignant diseases in general. The study design precludes conclusions on whether climatotherapy plays a specific part in skin carcinogenesis which is different from other sources of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as climatotherapy is inevitably confounded by excess UV exposure.